


Collateral Damage

by standoutinacrowd



Series: I Have Died, So That One Day I Would Be Able To Meet You [3]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Laura being a nosey dork, Laura being gay AF, Werewolf Danny Lawrence, supernatural happenings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-08-27
Packaged: 2018-07-21 20:09:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7402096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/standoutinacrowd/pseuds/standoutinacrowd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part three: Lure, Interrogate and Kill the target. It really isn't that hard, is it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [...]
> 
> One second he is in front of you, ready to strike and the other he is held up by Carmilla having her hand around his neck, as if he weighed nothing.
> 
> [...]

“I still can’t believe that you are doing this…”, she is grumbling and you find it entirely too cute, how she’s half pouting and hiding her eyes -that totally have been looking at you- behind her sunglasses (Oh and by the way it is like midnight or something! Who the hell wears sunglasses in the darkness?)  
  
“ **We** are doing this.”, you muster up as much courage, as you can.  
  
“Yes! _We_ are getting _you_ eaten. That’s what we are doing.”  
  
Ohmigod, her being all disapproving really turns you on and yes, _this_ is a new development.  
  
You totally are in the web of the black widow and you cannot flee anymore. She’s got you in her trap.  
  
There has been a lot of thinking about this subject, because obviously it is totally weird that you like her like that. **You** are totally weird. She is just a stranger that happens to be someone you know from the past. The past that contains you being about 15 years younger than her -though now it seems irrelevant. She will always be more than three centuries older than you, so the age gap really is your tiniest of problems. You are a complete mess around her most of the time and that’s kind of gotten a big problem.  
  
Because you know that she’s not into you, so all there is left for you to do is pine over a _possibly-not-so-bad-as-the-others-vampire_.  
  
  
Okay, no. She totally is not bad at all.  
  
Carmilla is actually pretty sweet.  
  
She lets you win arguments.  
  
And she still buys candy.  
  
A lot of it. For **you**.  
  
  
“Laura… You don’t have to- There are other ways.”  
  
  
You open the trench coat -which you stole from Carmilla’s closet alongside a few other items- and reveal the _sluttiest outfit_ -you are a feminist, but c’mon- you could find in her closet.  
  
Which is a crop top that could also function as a bra (actually some of your sports bras cover more skin than this scrap) and the shortest black shorts there are (again, you own underwear that would do a better job than _this_ ).  
  
“Wha- You- I do not recall this part of the plan!”, Carmilla’s eyes are wide in… Shock, is it?  
  
“You told me to raid your closet! And I thought the more skin I show, the more alluring I’ll be… Or something…”  
  
“Trust me… You would still be alluring with a-”, she buries her face in her hands for a second, “Okay let’s just get this over with… You’ll be sitting there, by the river. All by yourself… Gazing at the stars, and I’ll be waiting here and observing you.”  
  
“Yup. See? Easy.”  
  
She blows out air and you know for a fact that she doesn’t really need to breathe.  
  
“Please don’t get yourself eaten, Laura.”, she says pleadingly and there is a certain warmth in her stare now.  
  
“That’s what _you_ are here for.”  
  
Her eyes reflect the shimmering water of the _Seine_ behind you and her hair sways with the gentle wind. Suddenly her hand grips your left bicep and her thumb brushes over your skin there and you know she wants to say something, but she is distracted by something else completely.  
  
Because yes, her touch does things to you. _Obviously._  
  
“Are you cold?”, she asks you and wants to hand you back the coat you had shed before.  
  
“Nope. Just- Uh- Let’s get this over with, yeah?”  
  
She nods at you, retracting her hand and you want her _oh so badly_. You want her hand to be imprinting patterns into your skin and you want to smack yourself -so hard- for all those visuals of your super hot vampire friend. And ohmigod she technically saw you in diapers and, and she probably has seen you running around naked and she could easily be your aunt or something -but then again she couldn’t-  
  
“Laura? Are you suddenly nervous? Because you don’t have to do this, you know that right?”, she asks you, because your brain short circuited there.  
  
“What? No! Totally not! I’m super fine! Let’s get this killer!”  
  
You give her a thumbs up before leaving your current position behind some tree and sit on a bench. _In freaking underwear._ There really is no difference to undergarments. You briefly wonder how Carmilla would look in those clothes.  
  
All you saw her in were leather pants - _which wow, so super wow_ \- and leather jackets. The most scandalous thing she’s ever worn was a lacy top that revealed her black bra -that was by Victoria’s Secret by the way- which you totally hadn’t paid attention to, of course.  
  
  
You think back to the last few days you spent in her apartment brainstorming, because that’s when this ridiculous crush got out of your hands completely -not in the good way.  
  
  
There was an unnecessary amount of time spent simply watching her. You have watched her, while she wrote letters back and forth with the vampire she fondly calls _‘Maman’_ , holding her fountain pen like it was something holy and only marking the paper with perfect letters. You figure it’s those years of practice, but it’s also her inner perfectionist.  
  
Because yeah, she totally is one. Or at least she is a little fussy. Her place doesn’t have many things, but she has a particular order in which she likes to keep them. And simultaneously she loves the chaos. She has her own arrangement of what is _‘out of order’_ and tidy.  
  
You have also learned that Carmilla -aside her apparently being nocturnal- doesn’t need to nap. Like ever.  
  
(No, you have not woken up to her creeping on you in your sleep. She definitely is not Edward Cullen.  
  
And more importantly: _You are still not Bella Swan._ )  
  
  
There is rustling and your heart picks up speed.  
  
You definitely shouldn’t wallow in your _Carmilla-thoughts_ , when you could technically get eaten.  
  
A tall figure approaches you and you just feel your heart bursting out of your rib cage. Okay, maybe you are a little nervous after all. A little.  
  
  
“Mademoiselle, qu’est-ce que vous faites ici?”, it’s a woman. You feel relief wash over you.  
  
And- Hello! She is pretty. Like, _really_ pretty. You’d say she has bronze hair and the body of an athlete. Like super-  
  
  
“Lawrence, what in the name of...!? What are you doing here!?”, Carmilla’s in the picture suddenly and you’re confused, because they apparently know each other.  
  
“Karnstein.”, the stranger nods faintly at the vampire, “I was just about to tell this-”, the tall woman is looking down at you and just now seems to take in your outfit (or lack thereof), “Uh… _Lady of the night_ that-”  
  
“Hey! I’m **not** a prostitute!”, you interrupt her and she turns red -as red as her hair almost-  
  
“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know that you spoke- I mean, I didn’t mean to insult you!”  
  
  
That British accent though. To die for. You’ve been single for too long. Definitely. That explains your weird crush on Carmilla. Totally.  
  
  
“Whatever it is, get lost! We are doing something here!”, Carmilla says through clenched teeth.  
  
The intruder -that Lawrence woman- is looking at you strangely, “What is going on here?”  
  
Carmilla licks over her lips, “There is a vampiric killer on the loose and the story is too complicated now to tell-”, the vampire motions towards you, “She is helping me to get him. It’s a trap.”, and the tall girl looks at you incredulously.  
  
“But she’s human…”  
  
“Yeah. Oh! I’d introduce myself and all, but Carmilla…?”, you hint her that you two still are on a mission, before that tall (and really pretty) woman interfered. ( ~~You are very single~~.)  
  
She got it and now is busy dragging the redhead into the nearest bush or something.  
  
“I hope you haven’t blown anything with your dog smell…”, you hear the vampire saying under her breath. You wonder what that was about.  
  
  
You spend another fifteen minutes or so just letting the somewhat warm July night breeze hit your face.  
  
You have your eyes closed, so you don’t really see the new intruder, but by the low growl that creature makes and the way your heart speeds up instinctively, you know.  
  
_Adrenaline is a bitch._  
  
You turn around and see a guy, who most probably is younger than you, baring his teeth and there you see _them_.  
  
Up until now you’ve never seen fangs -even though you’ve been residing with a vampire for the past couple of days.  
  
  
It all happens so fast. One second he is in front of you, ready to strike and the other he is held up by Carmilla having her hand around his neck, and lifting him up, as if he weighed nothing.  
  
  
“I don’t think you wanna do this, kid.”, Carmilla grits her teeth and now this is the first time you see her animalistic side and it is very fascinating to you.  
  
Her canines have elongated and there is a low sound emanating from her throat.  
  
“Who the fuck are you?!”, the boy is asking, clearly trying to break free from the vice like grip he is held in.  
  
“Language.”, Carmilla scoffs, “How old are you? A month? That would explain, why your senses don’t work properly yet. You don’t near a human with the scent of a wolf or another vampire lingering in the air. Has no one told you yet?”  
  
“I’m fourteen, you fucking bitch! And I am capable of living by myself! Without your dumb tips!”, he spits in her direction (literally spits) and she leans her head back, so that his saliva _‘only’_ accomplishes to strike her shoulder.  
  
“And a misogynist. My favorite kind.”, Carmilla nods over to where that British -drool- girl is standing and the last thing you hear from that direction is a crack.

* * *

  
Dannielle Lawrence (the pretty, tall, athletic, British redhead’s full name) is walking languidly beside you with the body of that vampire (whose neck was snapped by a certain brunette) over her shoulder. You are glad that you thought of bringing a large -very large- garbage bag. Walking to Carmilla’s apartment with a seemingly dead body would have been a little odd. Even though it is like 3 am in the morning.  
  
You have learned a thing or two about Danielle -Danny- Lawrence in the past few minutes.  
  
  
“So you are a werewolf?”, you find yourself asking her and she looks at you with a smile.  
  
“Yeah. And you… Are a human bait.”, she states, clearly not really comprehending the whole situation yet. Or not wanting to. You don’t know.  
  
“I’m not gonna tell anyone, if you’re worried about _that_ … Also… Are you from England?”, you try to change the subject.  
  
Danny smiles (ohmigod she has a really pretty face, when she’s smiling), “Bloody hell, what’d tip me off?”  
  
“And you’re funny too, huh? What else is there to know about you?”, you smirk in her direction and wanna high-five yourself for your subtleness.  
  
Harmless flirting didn’t hurt anybody.   ( ~~Still very single.~~ )  
  
(Jacob is always shirtless, so maybe being Bella Swan wasn’t _that_ bad. Edward _is_ endgame though…)  
  
  
Carmilla’s suddenly beside you and throwing an arm around you. (You try not to seem too affected by this, because clearly her and you? Never happening.)  
  
“Smooth, sundance. Smooth. Although your advances won’t be propitious.”, her voice is low enough for only you to hear, but Danny’s got super hearing and of course she chuckles beside you.  
  
You look at her -bewilderment evident on your face- and she reveals the ring on her left hand.  
  
  
“Married for a year now. To my best friend.”  
  
You want a hole to open up in front of you and swallow you. Right now.  
  
  
_But that would mean…_ “So you are an alpha, huh?”  
  
She looks at you somewhat impressed, “You’ve done your homework.”  
  
“Actually Carmilla told me some stuff about you- Well, _your kind_.”  
  
“Yes, I know. She told me.”, the redhead is looking at the woman beside you now (who still has her arm around you- _just fyi_ ) “Do I need to understand your whole dynamics with her?” (She is talking to Carmilla about you, as if you weren’t there.)  
  
“Mind your own business, Lawrence. We got the killer, and I’m taking him off the streets. You should be glad about that.”, you figure they have been talking about what it is you are doing, while they were ornamenting the bush down by the river.  
  
  
They bicker for fifteen minutes about the fact that Danny has helped you two and Carmilla’s reluctance to utter the words _‘thank you’_. The werewolf/vampire rivalry is for display, everyone! Like it’s depicted in bad Supernatural/Romance novels.  
  
You frown at your many Twilight references in your head.

* * *

  
You two have set up a chair in the cellar of Carmilla’s building (apparently European apartment complexes have those things) and tie the knocked off teenager to it.  
  
Usually ropes aren’t gonna do anything, to keep vampires in place, Carmilla tells you, and hands you a black briefcase.  
  
Upon opening it you find some wires and strange jewellery and frown in her direction.  
  
  
“Silver is one of our weaknesses.”, she explains and motions you towards his body. Right. That’s why _you_ gotta do it.  
  
You hang a silver necklace around his neck and she seems to be appeased.  
  
  
“So, uh Danny seems nice.”, you break down the quiet.  
  
She looks at you through her lashes and seems to think about your statement.  
  
“I didn’t know that you had a proclivity for tall, obnoxious redheads.”  
  
“Wha- No! I totally don’t have a thing for her! I was just being nice. Clearly something you aren’t familiar with.”  
  
She smirks, honestly smirks, and squints her eyes, “Oh really? When exactly did you stop depicting me as your hero in shining armor? Only last week I was the vampire that saved you and now I degraded to-”  
  
“A huge cocky vampire? Yeah.”, you interrupt her and throw her a smug smile, “I think I flattered you too much back then.”, you stick out your tongue and she raises an eyebrow at you.  
  
Carmilla’s holding her hand to her chest, “You wound me, Laura. If _that_ was you flattering me, then you don’t really like me very much, do you?”, she chuckles and there is something in her expression you can’t decipher at first try, but you know her better now. You think you can read her well by now and it seems like there is seriousness behind that question that she has obscured as a theoretical one.  
  
“I-”  
  
You don’t even come as far as elaborating on what you think of her (which you kind of are thankful for), because you hear a certain teenager making weird noises…


	2. Interrogate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [...]
> 
> You can only clench your teeth, while speaking her name out loud, “Ell.”
> 
> [...]

“Where am I?”, the lackwit of a teenager that you captured starts to speak and from there on you just know you don’t have much time until you will have to kill him in front of Laura.  
  
Why did she make you do that again?  
  
You have no idea.  
  
“That’s none of your concern. Tell me, whose orders you follow.”  
  
“I won’t talk to you bitch.”  
  
You don’t lose your temper or patience often, but when you do, you can get very uncomfortable.  
  
You get the dagger that has been looking at you since you entered the little room in the basement, and approach that boy with it. He is not much older than your youngest brother was, when you were killed. It aches to see such a young soul being consumed by darkness. But you don’t feel.  
  
  
“ **Carm!** ”  
  
The nickname startles you and you glance back at her and she’s looking at the dagger in your hand with wide eyes.  
  
You sigh and cross the distance between Laura and you, before taking her to the side and whispering to her, “This good cop/bad cop thing isn’t going to work, if you do that all the time.”  
  
She seems to consider your offered explanation of why exactly you have a dagger in your hand, “Oh. So you’re **not** gonna use it?”  
  
You shake your head at her, “I didn’t say _that_.”  
  
He can hear you after all.  
  
Laura is not appeased by that, but she seems to accept it and walks away from you and towards your hostage.  
  
  
“Okay so. Why have you killed those people?”, devastating interrogation technique right there.  
  
He is looking at her unfazed and Laura seems to take great offence in that.  
  
“You know, she’s gonna use that thing she has in her hand and I won’t really stop her, because you killed a lot of people in the last couple of days.”  
  
You are grateful that you were so adamant about having Laura stay with you. Who knows what would have happened, if you hadn’t insisted. There were more murders after that initial one you got to know about.  
  
“Why would I tell any of you anything? You are going to kill me anyway!”  
  
He has a point there.  
  
“Because I wanna know. I wanna know why you did it. And you might survive this, if you help us.”, she gives you that pleading look and your face remains in a stoic expression. You don’t give away that she is lying. And you really hope that she is lying to him right now and not trying to persuade you to spare that boy.  
  
  
  
“What are you doing here? In France? It’s a long way from home, isn’t it?”, you hear yourself ask. Maybe he would at least give you some information.  
  
The boy is shrugging, “You know, I would be much more talkative, if I got to drink some blood.”  
  
He is looking at Laura like she is prey and then has the audacity to wiggle his eyebrows at her. You don’t know what it is that annoys you so much, but you snap. You’re in front of him suddenly and the dagger in your hand has found it’s way into his left thigh.  
  
There is a loud scream and you ignore all of that in the moment.  
  
“Are you gonna answer the questions or do I have to get more violent?”  
  
“Alright, alright!”  
  
You draw back the dagger, and see the blood running down it’s blade.  
  
“Answer.”, you order.  
  
  
You don’t need to look Laura in the eyes to know she is horrified. You hear her heart.  
  
Good. Maybe it is a good thing that she finally is a little scared of you.  
  
The worst part is, you don’t want her to think like that of you.  
  
You want her to feel safe around you, because she is.  
  
  
“I’m here for a nice vacation. Isn’t that obvious?”  
  
You would have liked him two centuries ago.  
  
“Who’s your creator?”  
  
Usually newborns aren’t allowed to walk around freely.  
  
  
“She likes her name to be kept a secret.”  
  
That’s interesting. _She._ He immediately recognises his mistake and his eyes widen. He is terrified.  
  
You’ve seen this kind of terrified once before.  
  
  
“So… Is _she_ threatening you?”, Laura asks unsure of what to do in this situation.  
  
  
“I am not talking anymore. Just kill me already okay? When she finds out… I’m gonna be dead anyway…”  
  
“You **are** dead.”, you reply dryly and both of their heads snap up to you.  
  
Laura is glaring at you and you feel a little small under her gaze.  
  
“Look, all I can say is that she took me in, when I...”, you know what he means, “She looks like those French models. Lean, blonde... Mole on her cheek...”  
  
  
If your heart were still beating, you know it would have jumped.  
  
This doesn’t add up. Nothing is adding up, because _she_ is supposed to be in Capetown.  
  
Far, far away from Paris. Far enough for you to stop thinking about _her_ as a threat and now _she_ is here.  
  
  
You have lived your centuries, you are not naive or dense.  
  
_She_ is here for you, because you two didn’t part well.  
  
Maman had been a big factor in that departure.  
  
  
“For how long have you been here with her?”, you ask him. He doesn’t respond.  
  
  
“Who are we talking right now?”, you have almost forgotten that Laura is in the room too.  
  
  
You can only clench your teeth, while speaking her name out loud, “ **Ell.** ”


	3. Kill (NOT)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [...]
> 
> “You are nothing to me, Carmilla.”
> 
> And you hope it burns in her like it did in you.
> 
> [...]

_Isabell Fournier_  
  
That’s the name you get from her. She tells you they go way back, but you know that for a vampire ‘way back’ could mean anything.  
  
  
“Way back? What does _way back_ mean?”  
  
  
“Way back means she is a vampire… He was a bait… She has to know that my mother has me as a watching post in Paris.”  
  
“Wait what? Vampire? How do you know her?”  
  
You really need to catch up on Carmilla’s life, because your knowledge is lacking.  
  
She doesn’t answer your question.  
  
  
“Did she send you? What did she say?”, Carmilla is threatening the boy tied to the chair and he sneers at her.  
  
“You’re gonna have to kill me.”  
  
  
“Carmilla.”  
  
  
She isn’t moving. She’s glaring at him. Staring him down.  
  
And you watch her in this absolute rigid position. Unmoving. Stiff. Like a statue.  
  
There is something about her that seems to scream ‘danger’, and you hadn’t seen it coming.  
  
You were so infatuated with the idea of her, and quite frankly still you are mesmerized by her beauty.  
  
  
“ **Carmilla.** ”  
  
  
You try again, and for the first time she seems to have heard you.  
  
  
“What?”  
  
  
She is still not looking at you.  
  
  
“Can I talk to you? Upstairs… Or outside?”  
  
  
Her gaze matches yours and you see the anguish, the hate. There is so much of something unnameable in her and you want to touch her and make it go away, but you aren’t that close to her yet.  
  
  
You once were.  
  
Or in your lacking memories you were.

 

* * *

  
  
“Tell me, who is this Isabell person?”  
  
She’s looking as though she were thinking about it, but then her eyes fall shut and you feel like she is closing herself up with that small gesture.  
  
  
“This isn’t important.”  
  
“It is to _me_. Apparently she’s had some big impact on you. Otherwise you wouldn’t-”  
  
  
“Let it go, Laura.”, the way she says your name, the way she spits it, sets you on edge, “You’re a child. And you understand nothing! Not about life! Not about these things! And certainly not about what it takes to survive in a world that- You know what? The sooner you stop playing Lois Lane, the better off you’ll be.”  
  
  
You don’t really know what you can say after that anymore.  
  
She knocked the wind out of your sails.  
  
And now she looks sorry.  
  
  
But you don’t give her the time to apologize. You hold out your hand, to stop whatever was about to bubble out of her mouth.  
  
  
“No- You’re right. I don’t understand anything. I’m sorry that I intruded in your life. What was I thinking…”  
  
“Laura…”  
  
“I’ve been here for far too long anyway. A travel blog isn’t gonna write itself. I’ve outstayed my welcome. He isn’t talking anyway… I’ll get my answers from somewhere else.”  
  
“ **Laura** …”  
  
  
The way she says your name burns in your ears.  
  
The way her lips curl when she speaks, it burns your eyes.  
  
  
“I’ll go upstairs and pack up my stuff.”  
  
“I won’t just let you go-”  
  
“You **don’t** get to tell me what to do!”, you snap at her, “ _You are **nothing** to me, Carmilla._ ”  
  
  
And you hope it burns in her like it did in you.

 

* * *

  
  
“Are you gonna kill him?”, you ask her once you are waiting on the platform for the late night train back to Zurich, from where you have to take another back to Austria.  
  
“I will ask mother about how to proceed from here. It’s Ell’s-”, she stops.  
  
She certainly did manage to _kill_ something else here, you think to yourself.  
  
Even though you are curious to know who Ell is, you don’t press, because she doesn’t deserve your attention.  
  
Not after what she said to you.  
  
  
You wonder. You briefly wonder, if that’s how everyone sees you.  
  
The helpless orphan that stumbles across the globe.  
  
On the search for some real answers.  
  
That no one can give her.  
  
Are you pathetic?  
  
  
“You can go. Thank you for bringing me to the train station. And thanks for letting me stay at your place.”  
  
She only nods and there is a flicker of something in her eyes.  
  
  
“I won’t go until your train arrives.”  
  
“I can take care of myself.”  
  
“I know that. Does not mean that I can’t also take care of you, does it?”  
  
  
You blink. Because you are conflicted.  
  
  
“I want you to go.”  
  
And it’s heavy in your chest.  
  
She looks up and you know you hurt her with that.  
  
  
“If that’s what you wish?”  
  
“Yes.”, you nod and look anywhere but in her direction.  
  
She stands there for what you think is an eternity, but then her posture comes back.  
  
  
Carmilla straightens up and takes a deep breath (even though you know that this isn’t necessary for her).  
  
“Good bye, Laura.”  
  
  
And before you can reciprocate your farewell, she is gone. Vanished.  
  
As if she couldn’t bear hearing you say good bye to her.  
  
As if she didn’t want you to make it finite.

 

* * *

  
  
Your train has a thirty minute delay. You wait inside the train station, that’s fairly empty by now.  
  
Gone are the countless tourists that buzzed around that place when you were last here.  
  
  
“Waiting for a train?”, someone asks you from behind. French accent.  
  
It’s a sweet voice, not the raspy one that you were used to in the last several days.  
  
“Yeah… Not many are apparently.”, you chuckle. And it feels good to have company.  
  
  
She sits down next to you. You notice a big ring on her left middle finger. It reminds you of Carmilla’s and your stomach turns at that thought.  
  
You didn’t part well. And just maybe you could have been a little nicer. Just maybe how you acted was not really necessary.  
  
  
“I ‘ave to give it to ‘er. She ‘as good taste.”, is what she utters and you suddenly don’t know what the stranger is talking about.  
  
You lift your eyes to match her gaze. She has been looking at you the whole time apparently.  
  
  
Thin figure.  
  
Blonde, long hair.  
  
Mole on her cheek.  
  
  
  
“ **Ell.** ”  
  
  
You say. Shocked.  
  
  
“Mhmm… You and I will ‘ave a lot of fun.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you have questions: [angstfreehuman](http://angstfreehuman.tumblr.com/)


End file.
